For many years there has been a need for an inexpensive boat dock having the capability of easily lifting and lowering a stored boat into and out of the water to minimize the attachment of dirt, slime and organic material onto the bottom of the boat. Such a need is particularly important to vast numbers of recreational boat owners that use the many lakes, rivers and seas for recreational purposes such as sightseeing, recreational fishing and water sports such as water skiing. Many recreational boat owners have rather small motorized boats with lengths less than 36 feet. Most often, the boats are moored at personal docks or at small marinas. Most often, the boats are used on weekends or while the owners are on vacation. It is quite common for the boats to sit idle at the docks for several days or weeks between use. Thus it is not unusual for the bottoms of the boats to accumulate dirt, slime and organic material while sitting idle.
The problem is made even more difficult for boat owners that use waterways that have water surface levels that frequently vary along the shoreline. Many of the presently used boat lift mechanisms used for small boats require that they be supported on the bottom of the waterway near the shoreline. Not only are they rather expensive, but they are frequently unusable should the water level materially vary. This is particularly a major problem for waterways that have substantial tides. Consequently many boat owners buoy moor their boats away from the shoreline without the benefit of a dock or any way of lifting the boats above the waterline to prevent buildup of undesirable material on the bottom of their boats when they are not in use.
Furthermore, most personal boat docks are rather unprotected from heavy winds and storms which may occur while the boat owners are not present. It is not unusual for the winds and storms to create large waves that may cause the boats to oscillate up and down ripping the hold-downs from the docks and causing the sides of the boats to slam into the sides of the docks causing considerable damage to the boats and docks. Even though substantial damage may occur, it is difficult for a recreational boat owner to justify buying an expensive boat lift system. Most boat lift systems are rather expensive and are only justified for permanent boat storage during the "off season" at a professional boat storage facility.
One of the principal objectives of this invention is to provide a combination boat lift and dock that is relatively inexpensive for storing and mooring a boat, particularly a rather small boat, and for raising and lowering the boat into and out of the water with considerable ease.
An additional objective of this invention is to provide a rather inexpensive combination boat lift and dock that does not require support from the bottom of the waterway or against a rather rigid piling.
A further objective of this invention is to provide a rather inexpensive combination boat lift and dock that is rather easy to transport and assemble and placed at a desired location without special equipment and extensive training or skills.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reviewing the following drawings and written specification of a preferred embodiment of this invention.